Effect of Water Content on the Thermal Inactivation Kinetics of Horseradish Peroxidase Freeze-Dried from Alkaline pH

The thermal inactivation of horseradish peroxidase freeze-dried from solutions of different pH (8, 10 and 11.5, measured at 25 C) and equilibrated to different water contents was studied in the temperature range from 110 to 150 C. The water contents studied (0.0, 1.4, 16.2 and 25.6 g water per 100 g of dry enzyme) corresponded to water activities of 0.0, 0.11, 0.76 and 0.88 at 4 C. The kinetics were well described by a double exponential model. The enzyme was generally more stable the lower the pH of the original solution, and for all pH values, the maximum stability was obtained at 1.4 g water/100 g dry enzyme. Values of z were generally independent of water content and of the pH of the original solution, and in the range of 15–25 °C, usually found in neutral conditions, with the exception of the enzyme freeze dried from pH 11.5 and equilibrated with phosphorus pentoxide, where a z-value of the stable fraction close to 10 C was found

Quality and satisfaction: The case of nautical tourist services in the Region of Alto Douro Vinhateiro – Portugal

Purpose – Organizations of tourist services, in the context of económica and financial crisis, seeking to combine the concept of quality to the satisfaction of internal customers (employees) and external customers (tourists), so as to ensure the provision of a personalized service excellence. This paper aims to provide an overview of the quality of the tourist services effected in the nautical Alto Douro Vinhateiro (ADV) – Portugal. Design/methodology/approach – This project work was applied to 117 internal customers (employees), through the application of a survey of various nautical tourist services organizations in the ADV. Findings – The results obtained demonstrate that there are aspects to be improved in these organizations, so that employees feel satisfied, namely: concern for employees; specific training; working conditions; greater dialogue between supervisors and employees; allocation of workload and time off. Originality/value – The employees´ satisfaction (internal customers) hasn´t been studied in nautical tourist services, due to the fact that the main approach has been to analys the external customers satisfaction.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Project SELfit: training socio-emotional skills in a school environment in Porto

Issue/Problem: Mental disorders are the main cause of years lived with disability (YLD) in 5-14-year-old people around the world, in Western Europe, and particularly in Portugal. Young people who experience anxiety during childhood have a 3,5-fold likelihood of suffering from depression or anxiety during adulthood. COVID-19 has aggravated this situation, namely regarding socio-emotional competencies. Description of the problem: SELfit, a project based on the Socio-emotional learning (SEL) methodology, aims promoting mental health, by training teachers and community nurses to develop socio-emotional skills in students from primary schools. The project includes a theoretical and a practical/training session, and monthly supervision sessions by a team that includes a psychologist, a public health doctor and public health nurses. The period of implementation is between February to July 2022. Results: A total of 8 community nurses and 13 teachers from 3 primary schools in Porto enrolled in this project, which corresponds to a total around 272 students from 5 to 8-year-old. Knowledge of nurses and teachers regarding mental health literacy, and social emotional learning was assessed, before and after the theoretical session. The mean percentage of correct answers before was 49% (54% regarding nurses and 45% teachers) compared to 84% (92% regarding nurses and 78% teachers) after. Concerning socio-emotional skills of the primary school students, possible improvement will be evaluated at the end of the project (July 2022). Lessons: Mental health literacy and social emotional learning knowledge increased 35%, which highlights the importance of these theoretical sessions promoting mental health literacy. By the end of this project, it is expected to exist an improvement on socio-emotional skills of the primary school students. This is a very important project, expected to be implement and replicated in other schools in Porto and in Portugal.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Environmental fate of pesticides applied on coffee crops in southeast of Brazil

The aim of this paper was evaluate the environmental fate of pesticides applied in coffee crops in southeast of Brazil, using the level I fugacity model. Chemical and physical characteristics of the pesticides were considered in different environmental compartments and applied fugacity equations. The preliminary evaluation of contamination risk due the use of pesticides in coffee crops, using fugacity models, proved to be good tools to be used in the process of making decision to select pesticides with less impact on the environment, as well to prioritize the pesticides to be monitored. For most of the pesticides evaluated, the soil/sediment compartment was the most vulnerable.Key words: Environmental fate, fugacity, organic micropollutants, pesticide

Auditoria à prática profilática e incidência de náuseas e vómitos pós-operatórios (NVPO)

Introdução: As NVPO são uma das principais queixas dos doentes do pós-operatório. Este trabalho teve como objetivo registar a prática farmacológica para profilaxia de NVPO em cirurgia programada e avaliar a sua eficácia. Metodologia: Incluídos todos os doentes submetidos a cirurgia programada das especialidades de Cirurgia Geral, Urologia e Cirurgia Vascular entre 3 e 21 de Dezembro de 2012. Excluídos se alta<24horas(h), pós-operatório no Serviço Cuidados Intensivos/ Intermédios ou impossível acesso aos registos. Tendo como modelos o Score Apfel Simplificado e as recomendações para cirurgia de ambulatório(1) (Tabela 1), a profilaxia instituída foi dividida em adequada, a mais ou a menos; avaliação da ocorrência de NVPO na Unidade Cuidados Pós-Anestésicos e às 24h (registos anestésicos e entrevista). Resultados apresentados em percentagem. Aplicação teste qui quadrado com p<0,05 para significância. Resultados: Avaliados 255 doentes (excluídos 68, incluídos 187). Com 0-1 fator risco (FR) 34%, 2 FR 45%, 3-4 FR 21%. A profilaxia foi adequada em 53% dos doentes, a mais em 16% e a menos em 31%. Incidência total de NVPO - 22% (24% no grupo de doentes que fez profilaxia adequada e 20% no grupo de profilaxia inadequada (p=0.35012)). Neste último grupo 13% realizaram profilaxia a mais e 24% a menos. Resultados da incidência de NVPO por fator de risco na tabela 2. A incidência de NVPO por FR nos doentes com profilaxia adequada foi menor ou igual em todos os grupos em relação ao previsto no Score Apfel simplicado(1,2). No grupo que fez profilaxia inadequada, esta foi a menos principalmente no grupo de 2 FR, com 71% de NVPO; e foi a mais essencialmente no grupo com 1 FR (4 doentes, todos com NVPO). Incidência menor com anestesia locoregional (ALR) vs anestesia geral (AG) (13% vs 27%) (p<0.001). Discussão e Conclusões: A profilaxia foi adequada, segundo as recomendações para cirurgia de ambulatório, em cerca de metade dos doentes. Apesar da profilaxia adequada, nos grupos de FR 1 e 2 não houve redução da incidência de NVPO comparando com a prevista pelo score de Apfel, alertando para a importância de outros fatores de risco não previstos neste score e que estas recomendações poderão ser insuficientes para a profilaxia de NVPO em cirurgia em regime de internamento. A incidência de NVPO foi menor com ALR vs AG, corroborando a ALR como melhor opção em doentes de risco de NVPO (1,2). Estes resultados salientam a importância da adoção de estratégias para redução do risco basal

A kinetic study on the effect of hyperbaric storage on the development of Maillard reaction in glucose-glycine model systems

The effect of pressure (0.1, 15, 50 and 100 MPa) and temperature (43, 53, 63 °C) on the formation rate (k) of Maillard α-dicarbonyls (absorbance at 294) and melanoidins (absorbance at 420 nm), was studied during hyperbaric storage (HS) of glucose-glycine model solutions (pH 6). While increasing storage temperature increased k values according to the Arrhenius equation (Ea ~ 85 kJ mol−1), increasing pressure decreased reaction rates as predicted by the Eyring model (Va ~ 11 mL mol−1). Pressure did not affect reaction temperature sensitivity, indicating no significant mechanism changes under hyperbaric conditions. A combined model predicting the effect of concomitant changes of temperature and pressure on Maillard reaction rate was implemented and validated within and outside (20–25 °C, 20–200 MPa) its building range. Results indicate HS to limit Maillard browning in food, with possible practical applications, and the potential to develop predictive models based on temperature-accelerated HS trials. Industrial relevance: The capability of hyperbaric storage to impair Maillard reaction rate extends the scope of this multi-tasking technology to the prevention of color alterations due to non-enzymatic browning. The latter is expected to be of industrial relevance in the case of perishable foods affected by this phenomenon, such as thermally-treated milk. In these matrices, the technology could concomitantly guarantee microbiological safety, protein functionalization, and Maillard browning impairment

Estratégias de controle de podridões em pós-colheita de melão: uma revisão

Aspectos gerais; Patologia pós-colheita de melão; Aspectos ecológicos e epidemiológicos das doenças em pós-colheita; Maturação de frutos x patologia pós-colheita de frutos; Considerações finais.bitstream/CNPAT-2010/10923/1/Dc-112.pd

Estratégias de controle de podridões em pós-colheita de melão: uma revisão.

Aspectos gerais; patologia pós-colheita de melão; aspectos ecológicos e epidemiológicos das doenças em pós-colheita; maturação de frutos x patologia pós-colheita; manejo integrado de doenças em pós-colheita de frutos.bitstream/CPATSA-2009-09/39310/1/OPB1947.pd

Dispersively detected Pauli Spin-Blockade in a Silicon Nanowire Field-Effect Transistor

We report the dispersive readout of the spin state of a double quantum dot formed at the corner states of a silicon nanowire field-effect transistor. Two face-to-face top-gate electrodes allow us to independently tune the charge occupation of the quantum dot system down to the few-electron limit. We measure the charge stability of the double quantum dot in DC transport as well as dispersively via in-situ gate-based radio frequency reflectometry, where one top-gate electrode is connected to a resonator. The latter removes the need for external charge sensors in quantum computing architectures and provides a compact way to readout the dispersive shift caused by changes in the quantum capacitance during interdot charge transitions. Here, we observe Pauli spin-blockade in the high-frequency response of the circuit at finite magnetic fields between singlet and triplet states. The blockade is lifted at higher magnetic fields when intra-dot triplet states become the ground state configuration. A lineshape analysis of the dispersive phase shift reveals furthermore an intradot valley-orbit splitting $\Delta_{vo}$ of 145 $\mu$eV. Our results open up the possibility to operate compact CMOS technology as a singlet-triplet qubit and make split-gate silicon nanowire architectures an ideal candidate for the study of spin dynamics